July 29, 1761

Two Shirts Were Stolen

This document is a charge against Jamie, an African American slave belonging to John Jones. Jamie was accused of having stolen two shirts of a checkered material from Elizabeth Hardie. The attorney, William Young, dated the document using the regnal year, or by the year of the present monarch's reign. In this case, the event happened in the first full year of George III's reign. King George III (1738–1820) came to the throne on October 25, 1760, so July 29 in the first year of his reign falls in 1761.